Movable clothesline



June 1, 1943. c, A, NELSON MOVABLE CLOTHESLINE \xw .0 II /n INVENTOR ,4. A/e/son ATTORNEY Charlie Patented June 1, 1943 MOVABLE CLOTHE SLINE Charlie A. Nelson, Chattanooga, Tenn, assignor of one-half to J. Roscoe Horton, Chattanooga,

Tenn.

Application February '7, 1942, Serial No. 429,908

2 Claims. (Cl. 211119.09)

My invention relates to clothes lines and more particularly to movable clothes lines of the endless variety.

Heretofore, in the prior art it was the general practice to stretch a clothes line between two hung. This required a great deal of unnecessary labor.

However, others in the prior art recognizing these problems sought to provide a movable clothes line which if accessible at one point could be effectively used to hang and support clothes through its entire length and which could be completely filled and utilized by the person without moving from place to place and carrying the bundle of clothes each time. Examples of these prior attempts are to be found in Yung 567,800; Goodyear 435,625; Short 980,017; Smith 443,411.

However, these structures have a number of obvious disadvantages. Due to the stretch in the clothes line after being placed in use it has been found that the line will sag to such an extent that the operation of the system is imperiled, and to correct this defect some method must be employed to lengthen the line or the rollers at either end thereof. It has been found that these methods of tightening up the line are not completely adequate particularly since they must be largely utilized in the original positioning of the line and even in those cases they are inadequate. These various patents disclose supporting pulleys at opposite ends of the line and these supporting pulleys are ordinarily mounted through threaded shanks. Accordingly, it is seen that their mounting is restricted to such a support as a post through which the shank may extend and be engaged by a threaded nut, This greatly restricts the usefulness of these lines since they may be utilized only where the post exists or may be mounted, and the mounting must be such that the shank would not be feasible to attempt to mount these clothes lines on the sides of houses or sheds except where a post existed or could be set up.

In addition it is difiicult to set up the pulleys of the prior art as is particularly well illustrated by Goodyear wherein a bolt d must be passed through frame A and anchored in position by a pin 012. In order to remove the bolt or disengage it from the pulley frame, it is necessary to dismantle the whole block and disengage the bolt from the supporting post.

Applicant, with a knowledge of all of these defects in and objections to the prior art, has for an object of his invention the provision of a movable clothes line with additional adjustments in order to facilitate mounting and in order to render it easy to take up the slack in the clothes line over a very wide range. I

Applicant has as another object of his invention the provision of a movable clothes line of the endless variety having supports which may be mounted at any desired location on any appropriate supporting structure by the use of a convenient detachable bracket.

Applicant has as a still further object of his invention the provision of an endless clothes line of the movable variety having pulleys or supports which may be easily and quickly attached to and detached from their supporting brackets without the necessity of dismantling the pulleys or the brackets.

Applicant has as a still further object of his invention the provision of an endless clothes line of the movable variety employing pulleys having anti-friction means to facilitate their ready and easy movement thereby preventing jerking of the line in order to secure movement and also eliminate the tendency during that jerk period for the line to become disengaged'from the pulley and to pass between it and the frame thereby preventing the proper operation of the system.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following specification and accompanying drawing and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a fragmental side elevation of my improved clothes line. Figure 2 is a plan view of the same clothes line shown in Fig. 1. Figure 3 is a cross section of my improved pulley taken along the line 3, 3 of Fig. 4. Figure 4 is a cross section of my improved pulley taken along the line 4, 4 of Fig. 1. Figure 5 is a detail plan view of the wing nut employed to adjust the clothes line.

Referring to the drawing in detail, I designates a bracket of channel shape and having arms 2 extending from either end thereof. Formed in these arms 2 are openings for the reception and passage of screws or nails 3, which screws or nails 3 are adapted to pass into and be anchored in a wall or'other convenient supporting object. Centrally of the bracket I is formed an opening for the reception and free passage of a threaded shank 4. Mounted on the shank 4 in a manner hereafter described is a block consisting of a frame 5 and a pulley 6, the arms or prongs of the frame 5 straddling the pulley in the usual manner. Formed in the back end of the frame 5 is an internally screw-threaded opening for the reception of a threaded shank for coaction with the screw-threads on the opposite end of shank element 4. Also mounted on, and carried by the shank 4 and interposed between bracket-I and frame 5 is a lock nut I adapted to retain the shank element 4 in adjustedposition in frame 5. Disposed about the shank element4 and engaging the inner face of the bracket I is a wing nut 8 which is adapted to draw the shank 4 into the bracket I to provide appropriate adjustment.

Carried by the arms of the frame 5 is a shaft or axle or pivot pin '9 maintained in adjusted position by nuts I 0, I!) which engage the arms of frame 5. Formed in thehub II of the pulley B is a grease opening closed by a screw-threaded plug I2. Interposed between the hub II and the pivot or axle '9 are a series of cylindrical antifriction bearing elements I3 which extends substantially the length of the hub II. Interposed between the arms of the frame 5 and the hub II and closing the grease chamber and the ends of the hub are washers or other appropriate elements I4.

The pulley 6 has a rim about its outer edge and in that rim is formed a circumferential or peripherial groove I5 which is adapted to receive and support portions of the clothes line IS.

The clothes line I6 may either be made of wire material or of rope, leather or any other appropriate material.

The pulley IT at the opposite end of the line is similar to the pulley 6 just previously described except that it is mounted on a pair of fixed standard I8 through nails or screws or other appropriate securing means I 9 which pass through the feet 20 into the wall 2|. The clothes line I6 forms an endless belt or flexible element which passes over the pulleys 5, I"! and rests in their peripherial grooves.

In setting up the clothes line we may consider, for example, the running of that clothes line from a second story porch to a shed, tree, post or the like, although it will be understood that the clothes line can be used in a variety of other environments or locations. We would firstmount the standards I8, I8 through screws or nails on the wall of the shed, or the tree or post with the clothes line I5 threaded about its pulley I1 and resting in the peripherial groove of the pulley. Next, the bracket I would be located and mounted through nails or screws 3 on the wall, post or other convenient location above the porch. Shank element 4 would then be threaded into frame 5 and lock nut I turned up against the outer wall of the frame to lock the shank in the desired position and to prevent rotation of the shank with respect to frame 5. The other end of shank 4 would then be passed through the opening in bracket I and the wing nut 8 applied to the free end of that element until it hlad drawn the shank 4 sufficiently far into bracket I that pulley 6 is tightened against clothes line I6. If the adjustment of shank 4 in frame 5 is such that the end of shank 4 passing through bracket I engages the wall 22 before the line is tight, additional adjustment may be had by loosening lock nut I and screwing shank 4 further into frame 5. Of course, wing nut 8 will have to be loosened temporarily for this purpose. If the line later stretches appropriate adjustment for tightening it may be accomplished without tearingdown the clothes line by simply employing the adjustments controlled by lock nut I and wing nut 8. This provides a very wide latitude of adjustment.

In using the clothes line one may stand at a convenient location on the porch and progressively secure the various articles of clothing to the line after which and on each occasion the pulleys are turned and the line and clothes are progressively moved away from the person applying the clothes thereto. When the clothes have become dry or it is desired to remove them the pulleys are simply rotated, progressively moving the line andclothes thereon towards the person who may progressively remove them from the line without changing position. Thus it will be seen that this clothes line may be conveniently used by occupants on the upper floors of a house Where they would otherwise be unable to attach the clothes to the line.

Applicant has shown in dotted in form a head 23 on the shank 4 in Figure 2 which is simply an optional element if it is desired to use that type of shank in order to conveniently apply a wrench to one end thereof. This, however, is notthe preferred form of applicants invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with an endless line and grooved pulleys for supporting the line at its ends, of a fixed support in which one of the pulleys is rotatably mounted, a bifurcated block rotatably supporting the other pulley, a fixed bracket, a screw-threaded shank having threaded connection with said block to permit longitudinal adjustment of said block on the shank, and means adjustably connecting said shank to said bracket.

2. The combination with an endless clothes line and grooved pulleys for supporting the line at its ends, of a fixed support in which one of the pulleys is rotatably mounted, a bifurcated block rotatably supporting the other pulley, a fixed bracket, a screw-threaded shank having one end extending through an aperture in said bracket and its opposite end in threaded engagement with an opening through said block to permit longitudinal adjustment of the block on said shank, a nut threaded on said shank for locking said block in its adjusted position, and a wing nut threaded on said shank for engagement with said bracket to adjust said shank with respect to said bracket.

CHARLIE A. NELSON. 

